Please savor a sip
by JenEvan
Summary: Heine and Athrun, some chitchatting and tea drinking...Simple as that.


_A weird idea while I'm studying that'll continue bugging me if I don't write it out (I was reading on 'cultural and religious practices' with a cup of tea). Please enjoy this fic. Comments and critics are welcome for better fics in the future, thank you. _

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own any of the characters or whatsoever. They belonged to their respective authors, owners etc.

"Athrun's mine!" Lunamaria grabs hold of Athrun's left arm.

"Get off, bitch! He belongs to me!" Mia clings onto Athrun's right arm, pulling him away from Luna.

"Hey, Athrun's mine and _Onee-chan_'s" Meyrin grabs onto Athrun while Luna tries to wrestle off Mia.

"Please! Don't tear me apart!" Athrun wailed in distress.

"Athrun Zala you pig!"

To their horror, it is Cagali in Strike Rouge, aiming a beam rifle at them.

"Cagali, I can explain!"

"Shi—Ne!"

A plasma beam engulfs them all.

"NO!"

Athrun snapped awake instantly. It was all darkness, but he recognize his surroundings- his quarters in Minerva, and it was 3a.m. Drenched in cold sweat, heart pounding furiously, Athrun cringed at the nightmare he had just now. As much as he's tired and wanted to sleep, he was afraid of having the same nightmare again. Pulling his blanket up to his chin, Athrun decided that it was better to just lie in bed till dawn.

"Athrun, Athrun."

"Huh?" Athrun jumped, after nearly dozing off halfway through the meeting with Gladys-k_anchou, _while standing on his feet. Everyone at the meeting now had their eyes on him.

"Uh…_gomen_." Athrun was embarrassed to the core.

"Zala-_san_, I suggest that you get some proper rest today, or you will not be fit to perform any duties later on."

Gladys-_kanchou_'s advice rang in his head for hours after the meeting.

"Hey, Athrun!"

Athrun turned around; he found himself face-to-face, noses barely touching, with Heine.

"Wah!" A surprised Athrun jerked backwards, almost losing his balance.

"Are you all right?"

"Oh…err…yes." Athrun regained his posture. "Anything?"

Heine studied Athrun's face carefully. "Pale face, tired eyes…Haven't had a good night's sleep. Have you?"

Athrun only nodded, wide-eyed, at the accusing finger pointed in his face.

"Don't worry. I know just what will help you." Heine grinned mischievously as he lead Athrun away by his wrist.

"Where're we goin'?" Athrun was curious.

"You'll know when we get there." Heine replied with a wink.

Honestly, this was Athrun's first time in such a unique place. Even thought his parents used to enjoy tea time, they'd usually preferred cafes to traditional oriental teahouses. Sitting on a comfortable _tatami_ mat at a beautifully carved wooden table, Athrun surveyed his surroundings. It was a cozy, adequately-lit room with paper slide doors. The room was designed in a traditional East Asian style; exotic yet peaceful and calm.

"Do you like it?"

Athrun look at his companion beside him.

"Sure." He was really grateful that Heine brought him here.

In a moment, the waiter arrived with their tea set on a tray. As Heine helped himself to the tools, rinsing and warming them up for later use, Athrun caught the scent of the tea leaves.

"Jasmine tea, right?"

"Correct." Heine nodded. "You do know a thing or two about tea, I see."

"Only a little bit." Athrun smiled and watched on attentively as Heine scooped some tea leaves into the dainty porcelain teapot.

"Is that enough?" Athrun look at the thinly-spread layer of tea leaves at the bottom of the teapot.

"For a tea with strong aroma, this is approximately the right amount for a teapot-full..." Heine explained. "…unless you want to suffocate someone with _jasmine tea fumes_." Heine glanced at Athrun, who had an 'Oh-I-See' look on his face. Then, he proceeded to add in the warm water. Athrun observed that Heine did not pour the water directly onto the leaves, but went in a circle, and let the water slowly soak onto the leaves.

"So this is how you retain the flavor and quality of the tea!" Athrun exclaimed.

"Yup. A sudden change of temperature will damage the leaves and spoil its taste. And always make sure that the water temperature is around the ideal 60 degree Celsius for infusion tea. It will further bring out its taste."

Heine smiled. In fact, he was happy that Athrun was not bored, and was interested in the topic.

"Is it ready for consumption now?"

"Not quite." Heine discarded the first-round tea water, much to Athrun's surprise. "This is just rinsing and warming up the leaves. You only start drinking from the second round onwards."

Athrun kept on observing, as Heine repeated the step of adding in water, this time filling the teapot up to its brink, and placed on the cover. After waiting for a while, he strained the content into a porcelain jug, no bigger than the teapot itself, before serving the evenly-blended tea in the porcelain cups.

"Here we are. Choose any one."

Athrun took a cup and sipped a mouthful.

"How's it? Any comments?"

"Well-brewed, well served; just perfect." Athrun savored another mouthful. He stole a glance at Heine, also sipping some tea, beaming with satisfaction. Frankly, it never crossed his mind that Heine could actually pull off such a task. When it should be an arduous task (to most people, particularly Yzak) that required patience and extreme precision, Heine was doing it with delicateness and grace. And the results were wonderful as well.

The refreshing aroma and rich flavor brought back memories of peaceful times, when he and Kira were watching the sunset at the seashore, accompanied by Lacus, Rev. Malchio and the orphans. Closing his eyes, Athrun savored the last portion of the tea, completely indulged in its flavor and aroma, when suddenly; he felt warmth on his shoulders.

"Feeling more comfortable now?" Heine asked as he gave Athrun a gentle massage from the neck to the shoulders. "Just relax yourself, k?"

Athrun only nodded. Yeah, Kira used to do so whenever he found him tired and worn-out, usually after a hard day's work at Cagali's office. It has been a long time eversince they last saw each other in Orb.

"Kira…" Athrun muttered under his breath.

"Is he your friend from Orb?"

"Yes." Athrun continued. "And a very close friend too. We are childhood buddies, and have been through a lot together. I just wish I won't need to fight him in any battles anymore."

"You can hope so, although there's no absolute guarantee to that. I don't want to see you fight your best friend either. It's still too cruel, even if it is in a war."

Athrun look at Heine, who was silent and serious. For a moment, there was silence between the two.

"Thanks for the tea and massage." Athrun stood up, refreshed, and stretched, when Heine was done with the massage.

"No problem, but you are paying your half for the tea. My paycheck can't cover the whole set, you know." Heine replied in mock disdain, a smirk on his face, as Athrun giggled.

"Feeling refreshed and relaxed?" Heine felt a sense of achievement upon seeing a rejuvenated Athrun.

"Absolutely." Athrun took in a deep breath. "Did I mention that Kira's very good in massage too?"

"Really?" Heine widened his eyes. "Then we must meet each other some time! Maybe we can share some tips on massaging and I can even teach him something on tea-serving…"

Athrun only smiled to himself. Heine's joyful and enthusiastic personality really lifted his spirits. Maybe, after this war is over, he would invite Heine to their seaside cabin in Orb for a few days or a few weeks. The three of them would have plenty to share, and he can even serve them his secret-recipe cabbage soup-his mom's dish-of-pride. Great idea.

"Heine."

"Yes?"

"Where did you learn those from?"

"Where? Where else but home, from my mom!" Heine winked, a grin of pride on his face.

The two companions continued chit-chatting as they head back towards Minerva.

**Note:** _I've only known the minimum basics regarding tea-serving from the Chinese Language Society in university, so, if there's any inaccuracy please correct me.Thx.And the Heine in here is my impression of him,drinking tea in ep.21, talking in ep.22 and having a private chat with Athrun(ep.22 or 23?Forgotten), and some part from the manga...I just thought i need to write something on my fav. character.Just that._


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